One of the most important aspects of playing soccer, regardless of skill or talent, is injury prevention and recognizing when an injury might occur. This is a very important skill that some athletes might not think is overly important. These tips will help you prevent injuries and how to recognize when an injury may occur.
Injury Prevention
Strength and Conditioning
- Weight room conditioning can help prevent injuries and strengthen your muscles
- Lower Body exercises
- Back Squats
- Front Squats
- Deadlifts
- Upper Body exercises
- Bench Press
- Hang Clean
- Shoulder press
- Body Weight Exercises
- Air squats
- Pistol squats
- Lunges
- Walking Lunges
- Push ups
- Pull ups
- Toe Raises
- Single Leg Hops
Muscle Flexibility
- Stretching before and after training
- Give yourself 10-15 minutes to stretch before and after training
- YOGA is a great exercise to help increase flexibility
- Foam Rolling
- Hamstrings
- Quads
- Groins
- Back muscles
- IT bands
- Calves
*** roll each muscle out ten times
What to do if you are injured?
Suffering an injury and missing training and game time can never be fun. It can be tough but these tips will help you get back on the field as soon as possible!
Always advice a medical professional to diagnose your injury!!
Treating a sprain or strain use RICE Treatment
- Rest– keep off the injury and relax
- Ice – Apply ice to the injured area for twenty minutes every hour
- Compression- use a wrap to stabilize your injury
- Elevate- Raise the leg to help with the swelling and pain
Physical therapy after four-five days of RICE Treatment
- Range of motion exercises
- Weight bearing training
- Focus on your weaknesses
Improve your core and flexibility while sitting out
- Light stretches
- Light core workouts
- Sit ups
- Planks
- Side planks
- YOGA
Do not rush back from your injury, be patient and make sure you are cleared by an athletic trainer or a doctor before returning fully to training or games!!